Augmented reality is one of the most compelling storytelling mediums brands can leverage. Faisal Galaria, CEO of Blippar, looks at open platform AR tools that allow innovation and interoperability and are now available to everyone and deliver compelling business results.
The James Cameron Avatar-esque version of the metaverse grabs all the headlines these days, but the reality of the metaverse is much simpler – and much cooler. Augmented reality or AR is how most of us will experience the metaverse (no queasy-making VR headset required), and powerful AR experiences are already here.
Call it the augmented metaverse, this merger of the real world and the virtual one is already rapidly changing the way we move around the world today.
That’s because AR is one of the most compelling storytelling mediums brands have in their toolkit. It’s multi-sensory, highly engaging, allows you to interact in 3D with the world around you, and doesn’t need any new hardware. It also works: AR increases brand recall by 70%Opens a new window —and in 2022 there are already an estimated 1.1 billion AR users worldwideOpens a new window , and over 90% of all smartphones are AR-enabledOpens a new window .
Meta/Facebook has nearly 10,000Opens a new window employees working on its AR and VR efforts, almost 20% of its entire workforce, and SNAP claims Opens a new window that 250M engage with AR each day on their platform, so it’s no wonder AR experiences are taking over social media and bringing the mixed reality to the masses today.Â
See More: The Metaverse is Here…But is the Hardware Ready?
It’s Time to Democratize AR
Of course, for the metaverse to become ubiquitous and for these experiences to become accessible to everyone, AR experiences created for social media ultimately also need to work beyond platforms only owned by the company, across additional channels, including WeChat, Snap, and TikTok… and in other worlds like Roblox, Sandbox and Minecraft too. When a brand builds impressive experiences for one platform, they should also be able to use that on the open web, in apps, or anywhere else they want to.
That’s starting to happen with open platform AR tools that allow innovation and interoperability to be part of the process such as Blippbuilder. With no-code WebAR SaaS tools, brands can publish once and distribute experiences everywhere.
Which is a really good thing. Because yes, you and your friends and customers are on Facebook, but they’re also on Snap, WeChat, and TikTok—and they’ll also be on new platforms of the future that are just around the corner.Â
Exploring AR Options
For example, Blippar’s new platform lets brands including Pepsi, Rockstar, Hulu, and General Mills bridge the physical and digital worlds, boosting engagement and increasing sales—and the creative works on multiple social platforms without extensive reengineering.
Here are just a few of the ways brands are unlocking the power of augmented reality to engage consumers:
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- Interactive games: The Dr. Pepper ‘Halftime Challenge’ is a staple of the American college football championship weekend. Pepsi recently created the challenge as an AR experience so that fans at home and in the stadium could play along on their phones to win prizes.
- Rich content experiences: Kellogg’s created a way to turn a box of Coco Pops into an AR tropical island full of games and characters, no download required so kids could also play and learn.Â
- Experiential ads: Rich media banner ads for the Range Rover Velar SUV allowed Land Rover customers to experience the world around them from inside the car using nothing but their smartphone camera.
- New product launches/ecommerce: Timberland launched a new boot during the height of the pandemic using an AR-powered shopping experience. Customers could interact with the products and see how they are made without entering a store.
- Brave new worlds: PepsiCo created a metaverse portal for its Rockstar Energy drink fans (no headset required, just a phone) that let them travel through a portal door, pick a record, play an arcade game, and choose their favorite skater.
See More: Identity, Access and Zero Trust in the Metaverse Era
We’ve Seen This Playbook Before
The key to making these AR experiences catch on at scale is interoperability. Interoperability has allowed the video to become an essential part of the web experience. The videos people capture on phones can be uploaded to and shared across YouTube, their favorite publications, personal blogs, multiple apps, and a wide range of social media channels. And that’s precisely the kind of democratization we need for AR too.
Anyone and everyone with an imagination and a phone should be able to build AR experiences and share them freely on the web. That interoperability and ability to create once and share widely is the magic of the modern Internet, even in a world where walled gardens and closed communities are still a reality.
Are you upgrading the AR experience at scale? Tell us about it on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!